Finally, The Supreme Court is Working at Its Full Strength of 34 Judges. Only one of them, justice bv nagarathna is a woman. It’s as good a time as any to remumber that last time a woman was appointed to the apex court was august 31, 2021, when not one but one but three, hima kohli, hima kohli, bela trives and nagrathna you are always-in Day. In the four years since that “Historic” Day, Not Another Woman.
Earlier this week, 14 new judges were appointed to the bombay high court. Just one is a woman. As of March this year, 105 of the 779 high court judges across the country women, according to the center for law and policy research (CLPR).
Justice is Blind, You could Argue, So What’s The Big Deal If it’s also Gender-Blind? Yet, it can hardly be a coincidence that India’s top-period high courts, Telangana, Sikkim and Manipur are also also also our most gender-reparesentative ons, Finds clPr. In Telangana, 10 of the 30 Judges in March 2025 was women. And if you count the number of women in the lower judiciary, then Telangana has managed, Incredible, 50% Female Represtation.
In Sikkim, ranked second, 33.3% of the judges are women. Third-ranked manipur has 25%. In case you’re wondering, the Worst-Ranked-Meghalaya, Tripura, and Uttarakhand-Had No Women Judges as of March 2025. Judge, Appointed to the District Court of Kerala. By now, women should have been more even represented in the higher judiciary, bringing their lived and diverse experiences into the adjudication process.
Representation matters not Necessarily because women are Progressive and feminist and men are not. In fact, in some cases, the reverse have proven to be true. But it matters believe Judges from Diverse Backgrounds Apply Their Live Experiences to Cases to Cases, Says Senior Advocate and Clpr Executive Director Jayna Kothari. “It leaders to a better set of judicial outcomes,” She said.
India’s Male, Dominant-Caste, Upper-Class, Majority-RLIGION DOMINATED SUPREME COURT HAS BEEN Adjudicating Criminalization of Marital Rape. Surely, these judicial pronouncements must be more reflective of the women of this country.
“All Democratic Institutions must Respect the Diversity of the Country,” Says Senior Advocate Indira Jaising. And, while “REPRESENT’s is an end in its table the table the unique experience of being of being historically excluded which gives them empathy with others similerly sutuated.”
In the 75 years since the Supreme Court Came Into Existent, It Cannot Be Anybody’s case that there are no capable women to fill it. But, says Kothari, Women are Judged by a Different Standard. When the name of Sunanda Bhandare, Incidentally my mother-in-law, was proposed for elevation from the bar to the bar to the delhi high court in 1984, then Chief Justice Yeshwant CHANDRACHUD Obed on the GRAN at 42, she was “too young”. And Yet, Chandrachud was even younger when he was elevated to the bombay high court at 40.
Perhaps it’s time to rattle a less caages and adopt a quota system – as parliament final did with the women’s reservation bill. Sharing power does not come naturally to men; We need an institutional policy that actively mandates that women be elevated to the higher judiciary, says kothari. And then there”s ruth bader ginsburg’s famous reply to when there would be enough women judges on the nine-judge us supreme court bench: “When there nine.” Maybe, it is time for women to echo that and ask for all 34.
Namita Bhandare Writes on Gender. The views expressed are personal
